Anyone who receives such a communication should immediately print out a copy of this thread and go to your local police station and make a report. If enough people do this, they can at least have a press conference notifying the community of the problem.
My sister in law received this exact same call. Some dude saying I hit his brother who was riding a motorcycle and his brother shot me. Told her I was bleeding out and they wouldn't take me to the hospital until my brother (her husband) paid him 4000. It's bizarre that the police haven't put an end to this madman's depraved scheme.
In most cases, these crooks may not even be in the US.
http://800notes.com/forum/ta-c8bdd8d0ce3ebc7/how-low-will-debt-collectors-go
This is a type of "grandparent scam"
See:
http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2012/april/grandparent_040212
http://www.consumerfinance.gov/askcfpb/1743/i ... ign=ASKCFPB2014